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Re: "the complete idiot's...

I have the Dummies, I have not yet seen the Idiots. At least the Dummies version was what I expected from such a book. good overall starter material but nothing to dig deeper into. I will say during this first year it has been constantly at my elbow as I set here at the computer. This winter I am starting to put together my own guide so by spring I may be able to give it away and never miss it.

My personal guide is going to be much more complex. it will not just include what a hive is it will have detailed info on every type of hive I can find and the pros and cons of each. Nobody woudl want my guide it will be way to much. For example it already contains just one 20 page Journal Artical comparing Inseminated queens to naturally mated queens. It also has files on 6 different queen breeders and every detail I can find on how they manager their apiaries. It has a file just on breeding nucs different types and the pros and cons of each.

I don't plan on being a Dummy or an Idiot for long. I am going to join the Collasal Boobs.

I want to find a copy of the idiots guide just so I know what it contains.

Re: "the complete idiot's...

I think it contains a lot of research, references, etc. Much like yours will. It's a book of facts designed to suit a particular philosophy, more so than the authors experience.
I say "I think", because I have only read snippets of it, I am still awaiting the arrival of my promised copy.

Re: "the complete idiot's...

Originally Posted by Oldtimer

I think it contains a lot of research, references, etc. Much like yours will. It's a book of facts designed to suit a particular philosophy, more so than the authors experience.
I say "I think", because I have only read snippets of it, I am still awaiting the arrival of my promised copy.

not many references cited, other than a handful of nods to the likes of lusby, bush, palmer, ect.

pm me your address oldtimer, and i'll gift order you one.

merry christmas from this side of the pond!

journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives

Re: "the complete idiot's...

I would encourage anyone serious about learning beekeeeping to go to the books like Langstroths The hive and the honeybee or Roots ABC and XYZ of beekeeping. Reading is nothing to be afraid of. The best of life, like meat, needs to be chewed to be enjoyed.

Re: "the complete idiot's...

and that approach is going for small cell bees right out of the chute, by taking a package of bees and putting them on hsc (honey super cell), drawn plastic comb.

the advice given is to find bees already treatment free and regressed to small cell, but since that is hard to do, find the best bees you can, buy them in package form with a queen, and put them directly onto the hsc.

for the new packages not already regressed, it puts the bees into a forced regression into small cell.

my question is, has anyone here tried that? if so, what were the results?

journaling the growth of a treatment free apiary started in 2010. 20+/- hives

Re: "the complete idiot's...

Haven't tried exactly that Squarepeg, but I've dumped normal bees onto drawn small cell comb on wax foundation, which works fine, long as the comb has had brood in it at some time so the cocoons stop the bees re-working the cell size

Originally Posted by squarepeg

pm me your address oldtimer, and i'll gift order you one.

merry christmas from this side of the pond!

Hey Squarepeg you are a generous soul, but wow I can't let you do that, LOL! I may get carried away & actually buy myself a copy some time. (Under a false name, perhaps! )

And a Merry Christmas to you!

And Beemandan and Barry, Wow you guys got amazing memories, whew! That was some thread wasn't it! Yikes kinda thought I'd left that behind in the ether somewhere, cringe thinking about it!

Re: "the complete idiot's...

Originally Posted by squarepeg

very cool bc. was it just this one package you did that way? have you tried the hsc with a package and not have it work?

I actually only forced bees on the HSC the one time. A neighbor wanted a beehive so to make the bees uniform with my others they went onto the HSC. The Mann Lake "pf" frames are more practical. The acceptance of the HSC isn't a sure thing... But the wax coating of the HSC is surely a pain.

Some have claimed successful acceptance by using only syrup... Some confine the bees for several days hoping that the queen will have laid, and that the bees won't abscond.